Wire feed device



April 18, 1933. J. L. ANDERSON WIRE FEED DEVICE File April 1933 3Sheets-Sheet 1 1 V5 TOR AT 0 NE),

April 18', 1933.

J. L. ANDERSON 'WIRE FEED DEVICE Filed April 8,

3 Sheets-Sheet 2 X NVENTOR A TTORNEY pril 18, 1933.

' J. L. ANDERSON RE. FEED DEVICE Filed pril 5, 1936 s Sheets-Sheet 5 11vVENTOR IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIW A TTORNE Y Patented Apr. 18, 1933 UNITED STATESPATENT OFFICE TAKES L. ANDERSON, OI TENAFLY, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOB TO AIRBiEDUC'L'ION COH- PANY, INCORPORATED, OF NEW YORK,

N. Y A CORPORATION OI NEW YORK wmn, ram) nnvrcn.

Application filed April 8,

. ing or the electrode wire used in arc weldbroken lines being used toindicate the A further object of the invention is to feed the weld metalwire into the weld at any rate which is required and which is kept truluniform for any operation.

- T e, nature of the invention can best be brought out in the followingdescription, reference being had to the accompanying drawings of thepreferred embodiment of the invention.

In these drawings: Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the preferred form ofapparatus embodying the invention,

ossibility of adjustment of the roll assem ly, and the casing of thegovernor unit being 1n broken section to show the governor within;

Fig. 2 is a plan view; Fig. 3 is an end elevation with the roll assemblyin vertical section; I v

Fig. 4 is a vertical section taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2; and I Fig.5 is a transverse section through the overnor casing, showing thegovernor in ace view. The device has a base 2, which is provided withapertured lugs 3 enabling it to be secured to a suitable part of aweldingmachine or other fixture. The base carries two girdle clamps,namely a large clamp 4 and a small clamp 5, these clamps being disposedat right angles to each other The lower halves 6 and 7 of the clampsarecast in one with the base, and the upper halves 8 and 9 are securedto the lower halves by means of pairs of lugs 10 and 11 and screws 12and 13.

The large clamp clasps the case 14 of an adjustable speed electricmotor, this motor being provided at one end with an adjustable speedcontrol unit 15, and at the other end with a reduction gear unit 16,these units being supported by the motor case, which in 1980. Serial No.448,701.

turn is held by the clamp, the speed control unit and the reduction gearunit being free of the base. A recess cast in the bottom part of thisclamp holds a condenser 17 which is used with this type of adjustablespeed motor. A cylindrical boss 18 for carrying the motor switch 19 andpony plug receptacle 20 is cast integral with the clamp, 'makin a neatsolid unit. All electrical wiring '%as been omitted in the drawings, asthe wiring is conventional.

The case of the reduction gear unit is fixedly applied to the end of themotor case by screws 21 in a position which alines a horizontal shaft 22of the reduction gear unit with the motor shaft 23, to which it iscoupled. The reduction gear unit case contains reduction unit andterminates in a flat tongue 30, for a purpose which will appear.

The smaller clamp 5 holds a wire feeding roll assembly or unit 31. Thisassembly has a yoke 32 provided at one end with a laterally projectinggrooved neck 33, which is encircled by the clamp, like a journal in abearing which can be tightened to hold the neck at any position to whichit may be turned. In this way it is possible to revolve the rollassembly through 360 andv to clamp it in any angular position in aplane.

In this yoke two rolls are mounted, one roll 34 being knurled for drivinthe wire and the other roll 35 being groove for guiding the wire. Theroll 34 is provided with hollow hubs 35 and 36, one being journaled andthe neck 33 are coaxial, so that angular adjustment of the roll assemblyhas no effect on the alinement of the roll with the shaft 25, whichextends into the hollow hub 36 so that the flat tongue80 will engage aslot 38 cut in the end of an internal shaft 39 which is pinned to thehub 36. By making the groove wider than the tongue a universal jointaction is obtained that compensates for any slight misalinementof theshafts 25 and 39, the latter shaft being in effect an axial part of thefeed roll.

The grooved roll 35 is loosely mounted on an axle 40 passing through andcarried by a U-shaped guide 41, this guide being slidable in ways formedby the yoke and the guide plate. The grooved roll is held in contactwith the wire by a spring 42, the compression of which is adjustable bymeans of a setscrew 43. This method of holding the wire against the feedroll makes it possible to feed any size wire within the range of thedevice. The method'of holding the wire against the knurled roll alsomakes it possible to have sufficient friction to feed the wire .withoutcausing the knurl formations on the roll to throw up a burr large enoughto interfere with the passing of the wire through the guide tube andwelding tip.

The yoke is provided with two bosses 44 and 45 for inserting tubes toguide the wire from a reel to the wire feed device and thence to thewelding tip or welding region.

The manner of mounting the motor with its reduction gear unit and theroll assembly in clamps which are rigid with the base and in partpreferably integraltherewith enables alinement' of the respectivedriving and driven axes to be easily obtained, and also makes itpossible to set the roll assembly in position for feeding the wire inany desired direction. By turning the motor casing in its clamp and bymoving it endwise therein, the lateral shaft 25 is adjustable up anddown and horizontally'with reference to the feed roll, and the flexiblecoupling afforded by the tongue and groove insures satisfactorytransmission of power notwithstanding any minor deviation from truealinement which may be made necessary in effecting the. adjustment or byreason of manufacturing tolerances, or inaccuracies which otherwisecould not be tolerated.

The motor ispreferably a series-wound motor, though this isnotessential. The encased speed control unit 15 is of the centrifugalelectrical type having a set of electrical contacts mountedeccentrically on a suitable part rotated by the armature of the motor,these contacts, which are included in a circuit of the motor, beingurged together by spring force and being separated by the centrifugaleffect when the speed tends to exceed a predetermined value.The-position of one of the contacts, or the effect of the spring, ismade adjustable so that the control may be set for any desired speed bymanipulating lowest to the highest feed rate that may be required. Inthis connection it may be explained that different Welding operationscall for the addition of different quantities of metal per unit of time.

Thus, the range maybe from less than a foot of wire per minute to asmuch as twenty or thirt feet a minute, and the ability to feed difierentsizes of Wire with the appara tus increases the range in terms of weightof metal added. Because of the precision with which the feed of the wirecan be adjusted and the certainty of holdin it constant when adjusted,it becomes possi le to govern the contour of the weld with exactitudeand uniformity, to obtain either a flush weld of great smoothness, forexample, or raised welds representing any desired degree ofreinforcement.

Details of the governor are shown in Figs. 1 and 5. This governor has aplate 88 which is secured to the upper end 89 of the armature shaft andwhich carries on its under side two conductor rings 90 and 91 contactedby two brushes 92 and 93 included in the motor circuit.

Two brackets 94 and 94 on top of the plate 88 are electrically connectedwith the rings 90 and 91, respectively, and secured to these bracketsare two spring blade arms 95 and 96 having contact points at their endswhich normally touch each other. The blade 95 is limited in its movementby a link 97 connected to a bell-crank lever 98, One arm of which isacted upon by the speed-adjusting screw 99 threaded through the top ofthe caslng 15 and lziaving the readily accessible operating knob Whenthe motor is in operation centrifugal force acts on the make-and-breakarms 95 and 96 of the governor, and when the speed is high enough,depending upon the adjustment of the screw 99, the arm 96 is moved awayfrom the arm 95 momentarily breakin the motor circuit. The result ofthis is to eep the speed from increasin slacken imperceptibly, w ereuponthe contact points of the arms touch each other again, restoring thecircuit and sustaining the speed. By these slight fluctuations in the orto cause it to circuit, the speed of the motor is held remarkablyuniform at any value to which the governor maybe adjusted bythe screw.

While the referred embodimentof the invention has een described indetail, it will be understood that-various changes may be made and thatparts of the invention may be used without others, without departingfrom the scope of the claims.

I claim:

1. A wire feed device comprisin a base havin two clamps, a roll assemblyaving a neck old in one of said clamps, an electric motor having a caseheld in the other of said clamps and a reduction ear unit between saidmotor and said rol assembly, said clamps enabling both said motor andsaid roll assembly to be adjusted relatively to each other and to thebase.

2. A wire feed device comprisin abase having two clamps, a roll assemblyaving a neck held in one of said clamps, an electric motor having a caseheld in the other of said clamps and a reduction gear unit between saidmotor and said roll assembly, said clamps enabling both said motorand-said roll assembly to be adjusted relatively to each other and tothe base, said reduction gear' neck held in one of said clamps, enablingsaid assembly to be clamped at any angle in a plane and the wire to befed at any angle in a plane, an electric motor having a case held in theother of said clamps, a reduction gear unit driven by said motor, andmeans affording a flexible coupling between said reduction gear unit anda roll of said roll assembl 5. A wire feed device comprisin a Easehaving two clamps, a roll assembly aving a neck held in one-of saidclamps, enabling said assembly to be clamped at any angle in a plane andthe wire to be fed at any angle in a plane, an electric motor having acase held adj ustably in the other of said clamps, and an interposedreduction gear unitsupported by said motor case in operative relation tosaid roll assembly. 6.-A wire feed device comprising a base having twoclamps disposed at right angles with relation to each other, a rollassembly havin a neck held in one of said clamps so that t e rollassembly can be turned to feed the wire in various directions inaaplane, an electric motor havin a case held justably in the other ofsai clamps, and an inter posed reduction gear unit supported by saidmotor case and having a lateral shaft in driving relation to a roll ofsaid roll assembly.

7. A wire feed device comprising a base having two clamps disposed atright an les with relation to each other, a roll assemdily having a neckheld in one of'said clamps,

enabling said assembly to be clamped at any having two clamps disposedat right angles with'relation to each other, a roll assembly havin aneck held in one of said clamps so that t e roll assembly can be turnedto feed the wire in various directions in a plane, an electric motorhaving a case held in the other of said clamps, and an interposedreduction gear unit having a shaft connected in line with the shaft ofthe motor and a lateral ls)l11aft coupled with a roll of said rollassem- 9. A wire feed device comprising a base having two clampsdisposed at right angles with relation to eachother, a roll assemblyhaving a neck held in one of said clamps, an electric motor having acase held in t. e other of said clamps, and an interposed reduction gearunit having three shafts dlsposed in three-dimensional relation andconnected by two sets of reduction gears, the first of said shafts beingconnected in l1ne with the shaft of the motor and the third or lateralshaft being coupled to a roll of said roll assembly. I

10. A wire feed devicecomprismg driving means, a clamp, a roll assemblyaving a neck held in said clamp and a feed roll coaxial with said neckto be driven by said driving means, said clamp and neck enabllngsaidroll assembly to be clamped at var ous. angles inorder to feed thewire in desired directions.

a case held adjustably in the other of 11. A wire feed device comprisinga base having a clamp, a motor having a case held adjustabl supporte onsaid base inde ndently of the motor, and an interposed re uction gearunit in said clamp, a roll assembly united with said motor case andsupported thereby free of the base.

12. A wire feed device comprising a base having-a clamp, a motor havin acase held a motor clamp consistin of a lower part, which is integralwith the hase, and an upper part, the latter having an integral bosscarrying a motor switch and a plug receptacle, an electric motor thecase of which is held in said clamp, a roll assembly and an interposedreduction gear unit.

14. A Wire feed device comprising a base, a clamp thereon, a motorhaving a case held .10 adjustably in said clampand supporting at itsopposite ends and free of the base a speed control unit and a reductiongear unit, the latter having a lateral shaft, and a roll assemblycomprising a feed roll and a guide roll, the former driven by saidshaft.

15. A device of the-kind described comprising a support, a wire-feedroll assembly, means for driving a roll of said assembly,

said assembly having a circular portion 00- axial with said roll and aclamp which cennects said roll assembly to said support and in whichsaid circular portion can be rotated whereby the roll assembly can beturned about the axis of said roll relatively to the support and thedriving means and be clampedat any desired angle in a plane to feed thewire at any desired angle.

JAMES L. ANDERSON.

